Puerto Rico seeks public’s help to boost economy

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s government is launching a website asking people to submit ideas on how the U.S. territory can turn around its economy.

Governor Chief of Staff Ingrid Vila says the government is looking for ideas on how to prevent the exodus of skilled workers, among other things.

She said Wednesday that more than 450,000 people have left the island in the past decade, more than half of them after 2006. She also said that Puerto Rico’s labor force participation rate is 41 percent, compared to 63 percent in the U.S.

The island of 3.67 million people is entering its eighth year of recession and is battling a 15.2 percent unemployment rate.